The Kuroshio decadal variability and its climate impact
Xiaopei Lin1,2, Jiayan Yang3, Ping Chang4 and Lixin Wu1,2
1
Qingdao Collaborative Innovation Center of Marine Science and Technology,
Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China. E-mail: linxiaop@ouc.edu.cn
2
Physical Oceanography Laboratory, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
3
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, U.S.A.
4
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, U.S.A.
The Kuroshio plays a crucial role in the North Pacific climate system due to the
intense mass and heat transport and complex air-sea interaction along the sharp
oceanic front of the Kuroshio. Interactions between the Kuroshio and the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation (PDO) that occur on decadal timescales are still unclear and
we do not fully understand the ocean response to decadal climate change, such as
the fast warming before the 2000s and the following hiatus. Previous studies and
observations show that the warm pool in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean is in a
cold state and warm water flows eastward during the fast warming period, while
the Kuroshio transport and its SST increase. In the recent warming hiatus, more
warm water accumulates in the warm pool but the Kuroshio transport and its SST
decrease. This anti-phase change of warm pool water and the Kuroshio variability
is mainly caused by the ocean adjustment process. The long Rossby waves, which
link the Kuroshio variability to the open ocean climate change, are propagating
from east to west in the open ocean and from north to south near the shelf region.
So the Kuroshio decadal variability is more related with higher latitude wind
changes rather than its upstream forcing. Since the IPO/PDO mechanisms are still
under debate and the Kuroshio should play a key role, continuous and enhanced
observations are needed in the Kuroshio regions.